Tuesday, June 20, 2017

100% rise in Islamophobia in UK: Finsbury mosque chief

The CEO of the Finsbury Park mosque that was targeted by a right-wing terrorist said on Tuesday that hate crime against Muslims had risen since the EU referendum last year even as London mayor Sadiq Khan warned that police would take a zero-tolerance approach to such crimes.Toufiq Kacimi told TOI the Muslim Welfare House had to be evacuated eight months ago after a package with white powder arrived amid threats and insulting videos. He said there was a 100% rise in Islamophobia in the UK. “No one has been arrested as the police could not find out who did it,“ Kacimi, 48, said. Eleven Muslims were injured and one man died following on Sunday night after a man drove a van into them. “A Moroccan man was dragged under the van. A Somali woman is in coma,“ Kacimi said. “Some of the injured are South Asian.“ The mosque attracts thousands from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, but only a few hundred came on Tuesday . “The community is feeling marginalised and isolated because they are Muslims. Our sisters get abused and their scarves get pulled off. The problem is they don't want to report it.“ Explaining why the mosque's imam Mohammed Mahmoud prevented a mob from beating the driver up, Kacimi said, “We should not take justice into our hands. We can't kill for the sake of killing. We are not savages like this guy .“
The year ending March 2017 saw the highest number of terror-related arrests in the UK, driven by an increase in arrests of people from `White' ethnic groups which has gone up by 66% compared to the previous year, a home office report said. Hate crime has also risen by 19% in 2015-16. Founder of `counterextremism' think-tank Quilliam, Maajid Nawaz, said, “The IS-inspired terror attacks have been deliberate military tactics to divide our society . IS have told us this.“